Harvest Siblings
by YamiNoEve
Summary: The life of the siblings, Pete and Claire as they tried to save HG, sprites and become the best ranchers! I'm not good with summary and I'm a beginner. Please be nice :) Note: Pete is Jack Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon...
1. BALDY

**Prologue – B~a~l~d~y~**

"Guts, hey, Guts! Rise and shine!" yelled Pete.

"Oh…! I've been up for hours! Hours hours hours!" exclaimed the abacus sprite.

"Yeah! Whatever! Can you send help out? It's such a pain to start working after those snowy days," requested Pete as he leaned at the counter.

"Oh! I'm afraid not. Not not not. You see, we're having our New Year holiday right now. Look at the Harvest Sprites. Look look look. They're all relaxing on this holiday. If you want help, you can ask your sister. Your sister your sister your sister."

Pete sighed heavily. "That's the problem, Guts. The only thing Claire knows is sleep!"

Meanwhile... In a certain house…

A beautiful woman (?) looked at a sleeping blonde with 9 little Harvest Sprites.

"Sigh… This kid just won't do any work whatsoever… I did promise her mom that she'll be a successful farmer, but she has no work ethic whatsoever… Sigh…" Harvest Goddess could not stop sighing. "Hmm… It's no use! Ha! I'll just tell her mom it's useless!"

Suddenly, a tremor occurred, though it could be felt by the 10. "Giving up already?!"

Harvest Goddess looked up. "That voice…! Harvest King!"

The Harvest King sounded angry. "You always give up before even trying!"

The goddess got pissed off. "It's not that I can do anything if someone doesn't wanna work!"

"It's your duty to figure something out! You've started loafing on your job in old age!"

"W-what?! Age has nothing to do with it, you big baldy!" yelled Harvest Goddess.

Another tremor occurred. "W-w-what?! B-baldy?! You really crossed the line! Take this!" Another tremor came and this time, Harvest Goddess had been turned into stone.

Wooly freaked out. "Hey! You're mean, Harvest King! Change her back!"

"Yeah! That's why people call you baldy!" Bran provoked the king.

"Baldy! B~a~l~d~y~!" And, yes, Kali just fuelled up the fire.

"Silence! You're all to reflect on your doings!"

Meanwhile, at Harvest Sprites Inc.

"What's all this shaking?" Jet pondered. "Waaa!" He vanished.

"J-jet!" Pete called out for the peddler sprite.

Roller came down from the incomplete second floor with extreme anxiety, which was a rare sight considering that he was one of the calmest Harvest Sprites. "B-b-boss! Oran and the others disappeared!"

"What what what?!" Guts stuttered.

"While they're working, they went 'zing!' and then they're gone! Even Hops, Jum and Tep vanished! Uwaaa!" Now, Roller had gone to another world.

"Blue! Where are you?!" Ceruleano looked around for Fishing Team Leader to have a glasses wrestling. He was about to ask Reese when the indigo sprite vanished. "Hmm… That's weird. And I'm having this strange feeling in my stomach."

"Leader! Where're our buddies?!" Owen came running to Ceruleano.

"I'm scared! Everyone vanished!" Eviran climbed onto the leader's shoulder.

"Hmm… Hmm…" And, tadaa! The three vanished in front of Pete and Guts.

Sacci appeared out of nowhere, half-naked. "Sob sob… Boss, we played hide-and-seek while having a bath. I can't find them!" He cried. A hole appeared under him and pulled him in there.

"My abacus my abacus my abacus!" Guts screamed while holding his precious abacus tightly.

"Hang in there, Guts!" Pete got hold on Guts until the hole was gone.

"You saved me! Thank you!"

"Hmm… Just… What happened? Everyone had gone away," Pete looked worried.

"I need to check on Mercury and the others! It'll be a big trouble if they're gone too! Trouble trouble trouble!" Guts went inside. Moments later, he came out with Mercury and informed Pete that the weather forecast sprite was the only one saved.

Bang!

Everyone turned to see the one who slammed the door.

"Witch Princess! Is it you who caused the Harvest Sprites to vanish?!" asked Guts.

"Why would I trouble myself like that?! I'm here to send this little one back!" scolded the witch as she threw Neptune to Pete. "That troublesome little thing came out of my pot while I was making my potion! What on earth are you doing in there?! Do you wanna taste my spell that badly?!"

Neptune trembled in fear. "P-p-p-please don't scold me, Witch Princess."

"Witch, I think you just rescued Neptune," said Pete.

"Hmph! Why would I want to rescue that little thing? Oh! Now I remember! Harvest King asked me to send Claire a letter!"

Pete, Guts, Mercury and Neptune cocked their heads to their left side while eyeing Witch Princess questioningly. Does Harvest King have a crush on Claire? The witch then left immediately.

"Hmm… I guess… I'll go home…"

The brown haired boy wearing a cap entered his house only to see Witch Princess having trouble waking Claire up. Shook her body, Claire shooed her away. Used spells, Claire somehow dodged them. Sometimes, they backfired. Most of the times, the spells ended up burning Witch Princess. Slapped her, Claire kicked her. Hit her using her broom, no response from Claire. The frustrated Witch Princess retorted to splash her with water using her spell as she was too lazy to grab a bucketful of water, but Pete was concerned that the spell might go wrong, so he stopped her attempt.

"Now now, Witch, I can't have you messing with my house anymore. The only way for you to wake her up is by a motherly call," said Pete.

"Why didn't you say so?!"


	2. Thomas

**Chapter 1 – Thomas**

"Why do I have to work?" asked Claire lazily as she put on her gloves, placed her tools and wore her watch.

"It's your fault all these mess happen. If you just worked, HG and the sprites won't be sent to the other world," scolded Pete gently. "Remember, for now, I need you to clear the field. I'll go to the dig site to get some money."

"This early?"

"We're ranchers. We wake up early every morning. Let's go."

As the siblings walked out of their small house, they were greeted by a bald man in red. "Good morning, young ranchers."

"Morning, baldy," said Claire spontaneously.

"Claire! It's rude to call an elderly like that!" scolded Pete.

"But, he IS a baldy. Take a look, Pete." As the younger of the siblings made that remark, she took off the man's top hat to expose his bald head.

"I know that, silly. But at least don't call a baldy 'baldy' right in his face."

"Ehemm…" The visitor got a little annoyed at the siblings' quarrel, so he snatched his hat back and put it on. "Let's not get carried away, shall we? I'm the mayor of Mineral Town, Thomas. The guy who was in charge of this valley's shipping moved out, so we decided to choose… a… rep… lace… Hmm…?"

"I said I'm not rude! I'm just telling the truth!" yelled Claire.

Pete sighed. "It IS the truth but can't you at least speak in a more polite manner? Jeez…"

The girl in overall rolled her eyes. "Are you that irritated with me? Coz if you are, I'll just leave this place to you. You'll be much happier without me around." She threatened to leave Forget-Me-Not Valley.

Thomas tried to get their attention. "Ehem… Well, we decided to choose a replacement through a rock-paper-scissors match. Err… You can say I lost it, so I have to be the shipper. Damn, I should've go with scissors…"

"Woof woof!"

Thomas turned to see a brown dog nodding at him while the siblings were still on their heated argument. 'A dog listened and agreed with me but humans ignored me? This is SO getting on my nerves.'

"Don't you dare step out of this valley!" shouted Pete who frightened Claire a little bit as her older brother never got that angry before.

"Sniff sniff…"

Pete started to feel guilty. "Oh Claire! I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you like that."

"You're right, Pete. I'm just so selfish. I promise I'll work hard."

The boy smiled. "That's my good little sister. Hmm… Who are you? How long have you been standing there?"

Thomas startled. "You mean, me?"

"Of course you."

"I've been standing here and explained all those things about shipping and rock-paper-scissors but you didn't notice me?" asked Thomas in disbelief.

"Eh? So it's your voice mumbling during our conversation," stated Claire.

The bespectacled mayor fell into a state of depression. "I was ignored… Ignored… By youngsters…"

"Hmm… What is it that you wanna say?" asked Claire.

"Oh! Yes. Hmm… This ranch looks awful… There's nothing here. Are you sure you don't want a rather nice ranch in Mineral Town?" asked Thomas mockingly.

The siblings got angry. "Take back your words, baldy!" yelled Claire.

"While I don't quite like calling people names, but I think this is an exception. Don't mock our ranch, baldy! Take this!" exclaimed Pete as he tried to hammer Thomas.

The mayor dodged. "Too bad! You can't get me!" He provoked Pete, causing the latter to till him. "Too slow!" Another provocation and Pete tried to cut Thomas. "Ugh… This is nothing compared to the attack I took 100 years ago." Now, the young rancher chopped him. "Who do you think I am?! I'm Mayor Thomas of Mineral Town!"

"Why you…! Koro! Get him!" Claire ordered Koro the dog to bite Thomas.

"Ow! Ow! Ouch! Tell him to stop!"

"Not until you apologize."

"Grr… Ouch! Ok! Ok! Sorry!"

"Hehehe, come here Koro. Good boy, good boy." Claire petted her dog.

Thomas wiped dust off him before making his way to the shipping bin next to Takakura's house. Pete and Claire followed him. "This is the shipping bin. Just dump anything in it and I'll pick 'em up every 5 pm. I don't collect on holidays, though. After all, I need to participate in the festivities, no?" When he noticed that Claire was eyeing him with a deadly glare, he continued. "Umm, well, that's all, kids. I'll start today. Err… Good luck…" As he walked away, Pete called him.

"Hey Thomas!" The mayor acknowledged the call. "At least put on your pants…"

Thomas looked down to see him only wearing his boxer. Claire pointed towards a black cat which was scratching and biting a pair of red pants on the ground. It must've gotten the pants when Koro bit him.


	3. Fishing Pole and Daryl

**Chapter 2 – Fishing Pole and Daryl**

"There you are, Pete!"

Pete who was digging around jumped at Carter's exclamation. "Carter, don't surprise me like that."

"Sorry, buddy. I've been looking for you."

"Why?"

The archaeologist walked towards a wall near the corner of the dig site. "Actually, I believe there's a mine here behind this wall. If I have a hammer, I'll simply break the wall. Unfortunately, I have none. But you do have one, right?" Pete nodded. "Great! Now, help me here, will you? Hit this wall with all your might."

"Sure, no problem." After several hits, the wall crumbled.

"I knew it! There really is a mine here!" Carter remarked happily. "Oh! Feel free to dig, buddy! Thanks a bunch!" With that said, he left to refill his energy by sunbathing.

Pete resumed his work to find money, thinking that maybe he should enter the mine later when he had more free time. After he found a considerable amount of money, he made his way out of the dig site. Suddenly…

"Kooo kooo…!"

"What's that?" He re-entered the dig site and heard that strange sound again. "Hmm… It's coming from the mine. Might as well enter…" He entered and walked around to look for the source of the sound. Every time he got near, he fell down a hole. And the next one. And the next one. And the next one. Until he finally saw the owner of the voice, a black-coloured chick. "Why, hello there, cute little one! Whatcha doing down here? Come here. Claire sure will like you."

The chick went to Pete and pecked him. "Hey! What's that for?!" It pecked him again. "That's it! Take this!" The young one chopped the chick. "Eww… Claire's gonna hate it. Uh… Now I'm hungry. I guess Claire's not gonna cook for me today since she's busy. Haih… I wonder if granny Nina will do it for me. But what should I bring?" As Pete thought over it, he saw the axe in front of him. That reminded him of the chick. "Ugh… You gotta be kidding me…" But, what other choice Pete had? He took out his hoe to find for any herb to make it taste better. The only thing he found was black grass. "Better than yellow or orange grass. Let's head for Nina's…"

And so, Pete arrived at Galen's house. "Grandpa Galen, how are you?"

"It's you. I'm good as always. You want money? I ain't giving any! Ha!"

"Oh! Of course not! I'm kinda hungry. Can granny Nina cook for me?" asked Pete.

"Hmm… There she is." Nina entered the house with her walking stick. "So, where's the food?"

"Here…" Pete handed the dead chick and two black grasses to Nina.

"Oh my…" Nina was speechless.

"Are you nuts?! How are you supposed to eat that… that… that… thing?!" screamed Galen.

"I'm too hungry. I don't even know what to eat. I can't find any bamboo shoot," said Pete as he looked at the floor.

"Oh… Poor young Pete…" said the ladybug-hat old lady.

"Why didn't you ask Claire?" asked Galen.

"She's clearing the field right now…"

"Claire? She's working? Now that's something."

"Hmm hmm… Dear, Pete, why don't you sit over there? Maybe I can cook something out of these. Can you wait for a moment, Pete?" asked Nina.

"Sure thing, granny."

Galen sat down on his favourite couch next to Pete. "Oh! Pete, I remembered something. Will you help this old man and get a fishing pole over there?" The fierce-looking old man pointed towards a corner of his modest house. Pete immediately went to that place and took the tool. "It used to be my ancestor's. You ancestor used it too. Why don't you take it? I never used it. Besides, you seem to be a good angler."

"Are you sure, grandpa?"

"Sure thing, Pete. Better than having that thing rot there."

"Thanks a lot!"

"Don't mention it. Work hard and make you parents in heaven proud."

"I will."

Nina approached them with a plate of strange dish. "It turned out better than I expected, Pete. Dig in."

"Thanks, granny."

"Help yourself. It's a good thing you gave the fishing rod to Pete. He must be good with it. Good luck, Pete."

After Pete finished eating and thanking the old couple, he went to try out his new tool on the bridge. With that old rod, he caught a simple loach, but it was enough to get him excited. He fished over and over again, not noticing how time passed. By the time he realized how long he spent just for fishing, it was already 4.30 pm, so he rushed to his shipping bin and managed to dump everything in there.

"Thomas? You're early. I thought you're gonna be here at 5."

Thomas grinned. "It's good to be early, no?"

"Err… Yeah… I suppose. Well, see ya!"

Pete walked around the valley, passed the Inner Inn, then Blue Bar, after that Kassey's and Patrick's, until he felt something in his rucksack. "Oh my goodness! I left this poor little bluegill here! Thomas' gone. What should I do?"

"…Only one small fish and I can eat something tasty tonight… Weehee!"

Pete turned to Turtle Pond and saw Daryl trying to catch fish with his bare hand.

"With this Ultra Giant Fishing Net Hand Tonic, my hands will be as good as a net! Weehee! I can't wait to eat tonight!" His giant hand pulled him into the pond. "…Weehee!"

"Hey Daryl, whatcha up to?" asked Pete as he squatted at the opposite side of the pond.

"Shhh! I'm concentrating now!"

"If you want a fish, I have one."

"Weehee! A small fish!"

"Err… Yeah… Take it…"

"Uh-oh! Weehee! Thanks so much! Now I can eat sushi tonight! Weehee!" The mad scientist scurried back to his lab.

"Doesn't he even know that sushi can't be made with a SMALL fish…?"

Daryl wouldn't care! As long as he got what he wanted, he'd be elated and went 'Weehee!' until he wore himself out. Since Pete was kind and considerate, he decided to just give the scientist small fish every single day until he realized the fact that a sushi would fail when a small fish was used.


	4. Too Tired Two Sprites

**Chapter 3 – Too Tired Two Sprites**

Claire lethargically paced to Blue Bar and entered the bar before it was opened. She went to sit at the counter and dropped her head onto it. Griffin came out from the back room and approached the young girl who looked half-dead already.

"Hmmm… It's not open yet…"

The blonde lifted her head up and looked at the older man with a pair of droopy eyes. "Oh Griffin! I'm tired to death now. Can you let me catch a breather here?"

"Sure thing." He mixed up a drink and offered it to Claire. "Here, have a drink. You'll need it."

"Thanks, Griffin." She gulped her drink as if she had finally found an ABC stand at the middle of a desert after traveling by foot for days. Suddenly, the surrounding flashed and a small figure started to form in front of her. The figure was standing on her mug and posed like a certain blue-suited superhero with red mantle. "Who's there?"

"Hee hee hee. I'm baaaack! Uwaaa!" That little figure just slipped into her mug. "Claire! Help me! I don't wanna go to the other world!" He cried.

"Ah! Hang in there!" With her subtle hand, she reached out for the tiny one and managed to get him out of pinch. "There you go, cutie."

"Fuh… I'm saved. Thanks, Claire." He grabbed his purple hat which fell on the counter and put it on. "Ok, let me introduce myself. I'm Spirity, a member of Purple Healing Team! I'm so glad to make it back! Thank you so much, Claire! I'll help you however I can!"

"Hmm… Why isn't Griffin looking at you? I mean, it must be weird to see a small thing like you here…"

Spirity was taken aback by her word. "Thing?! I'm not thing! I'm a lively cute little Harvest Sprite!"

"Yeah, yeah… No need to get worked up. So…?" She asked for an answer.

"Oh! Well, actually, not all people can see us. In this valley, only you, Pete and Witch Princess can see us. Right now, Griffin only sees you relaxing here," said Spirity as he grinned broadly.

"I see… What should I do to save all of you?"

"Eh? I don't know. But I think I saw Souly near me, so maybe you can save him by drinking more. The others, you must figure out on your own. See ya!" Spirity used his magic and vanished.

"Wait! Jeez… Griffin, can I have more drinks? I'm super super tired," requested Claire while making her puppy eyes.

"It can't be helped. This is your first day working after all. But you must pay," said Griffin as he mixed another drink.

* * *

><p>"…Are you THAT tired?" Marlin looked in disbelief. Kassey and Patrick had stopped drinking after seeing Claire literally gulped down 43 mugs. The flower on Gustafa's hat wilted thanks to that event.<p>

"…M-more~"

Muffy hesitated. "I think y-you should call it a day, Claire. Y-you've had too much."

"…Mw-ooo-oreeeee~" Thud!

"S-somebody get Pete!" shouted Griffin.

"But, where's Pete?!" asked Marlin.

"I saw him walking Flora back to her tent," said Gustafa.

Kassey turned to face Gustafa. "Were you peeking on her, young'un?"

"I was wondering around the valley as usual…"

"Now's not the time. …I'll go get Pete…" Marlin left. He rushed to the waterfall area until he saw Pete coming out of his house. "Hey…"

Pete was quite surprised that Marlin greeted him. "Hey. What's up?"

"…Claire's drunk…"

The rancher cackled. "That's impossible! She's not a heavy drinker… I mean, it's true that she does crazy things every now and then, but, getting drunk? It's out of the question… Hahaha… Right?"

"...She's at the bar…"

Pete was dumbfounded and couldn't believe what he just heard. His baby sister went to the bar and now, she's drunk? He dragged his heavy feet to Griffin's and saw Claire lying on the floor. He strode towards her, grabbed her collar and started slapping her to consciousness, but to no avail. "Claire! Wake up you lazy girl! Claire! Snap out of it!"

"Err… Pete… I think it's useless…" said Muffy.

"Grr… Claire! Ugh… Sigh… I guess you're right, Muffy. Heave-ho! Let's go home, little sister… Hey Griffin, I'll come back to pay for her drinks," said Pete as he carried Claire back home. After he put her on bed, Pete went back to Blue Bar despite it's almost midnight. As he entered the bar, Muffy greeted him.

"Good evening, Pete!"

"Evening, Muffy. Where's Griffin?"

"He's too tired after mixing up so many drinks, so he told me to wait for you here," said Muffy.

"I see. Here's the payment…" Pete handed over an amount of money.

"Umm… It's more than enough. You can have one more drink if you insist on paying this much."

"In that case, get me one."

"Coming right up! Hehe, by the way, Pete, what kind of girl do you like?" asked Muffy.

"Why do you ask? Hmm… Pretty and cheerful one, maybe…"

"Is that so? I think many boys like that kind of girl. Hehe, here you go!" The girl handed Pete's drink.

As Pete drank, suddenly, a flash appeared and a purple-clothed Harvest Sprite was seen standing in front of him. "I'm saved? Yay!"

"Well, yeah. So, Claire was trying to save you?" asked Pete for confirmation.

"Yes. I was trying to stop her from the other world, but there's nothing I could do. I owe her. By the way, I'm Souly! Thank you so much for saving me! I'll help you however I can!" The cheerful sprite exclaimed.


	5. Claire's Not-So-Good Good Day

**Chapter 4 – Claire's Not-So-Good Good Day**

"Umm… Hmm…? Where am I?"

"Home…" answered Pete who was heating the strange chick Nina cooked yesterday. When he was done, he served it on two plates to share with Claire, but he made it clear in his mind as not to mention anything about the origin of the dish. "Come here. Let's have breakfast."

Claire got up from her bed and stretched for a while. She then went into the bathroom to clean up before sitting at the table with Pete. As she ate, she massaged her cheeks. "…Pete? I wonder why my cheeks felt like burning…"

Pete decided to keep his mouth shut or else, he's gonna have to swing his sickle to protect his precious cap.

* * *

><p>"Morning, Claire," greeted Ruby.<p>

"Morning, Ruby. What're you up to?"

"I'm gonna cook something for Karen. Can you help me out, honey?" asked the Inner Inn owner. Claire nodded. "Can you place some firewood in the stove outside and fetch some water from the well next to Griffin's? Thanks in advance."

The blonde left the Inner Inn kitchen to help Ruby. After all, Pete told her to check the valley for any Harvest Sprites while he did his works at the ranch in the morning and in the excavation site in the evening. As she approached the stove, the surrounding went 'zing' and Claire could see a Harvest Sprite at the stove.

"I'm back? Great! Thanks, Claire," said the Harvest Sprite.

"Yeah. No problem. Who are you?" asked Claire.

"The name's Tep. I promise I'll help you someday, Claire. Until then…" He's gone.

The girl farmer then went to the well to fetch some water for Ruby. While she pulled the bucket, she felt a familiar sensation. When the bucket was finally seen, she was quite in awe to see another sprite that looked like Tep in the bucket.

"Hmm… Hmm…? I'm back? Sweet!"

"Err… Yes, you're back. And you are…?"

He got out of the bucket. "The name's Hops. I promise I'll help you someday, Claire. Until then…"

Claire shook her head. The sprites would always disappear when she wanted to ask them more. She then went back to the Inner Inn to deliver the water to Ruby. After that, Ruby asked her to deliver a special tea to Romana at her mansion to which Claire complied. The young farmer departed for Romana's mansion and upon her arrival, she was welcomed by Sebastian. The butler told her that Romana was in her room, so Claire went in.

"Oh! Hello Claire! What brings you here?" asked old Romana.

"Ruby asked me to give this to you." Claire handed Romana the tea.

"I see! Thank you for the trouble. This tea is very good for your health. You should try once in a while, Claire," said Romana as she poured the tea into a cup.

Assuming the tea might taste horrible, Claire turned down the offer and excused herself. When she was leaving the mansion, she ran into Lumina who politely greeted her. The cute granddaughter of Romana was heading for the Goddess Pond as usual.

"…Abra Kadabra Abra Kadabra…"

"Hmm? What's that?" Claire looked around.

"…Abra Kadabra Abra Kadabra…"

"It's coming from here." The blonde went to a hut near Romana's mansion. "I think Pete told me not to come near this place. It's Witch Princess' place."

"Abra Kadabra Abra Kadabra…"

Out of curiousity, Claire entered the hut.

"Abra Kadabra Abra Kadabra. …Arghh! Why does the Harvest Goddess really like getting in my way?! I mean, yeah, sure every now and then I destroy crops, kill animals, break up sweet couples, and she'll always get mad for that! Does she think she's such a 'good girl'? Ugh…" Witch Princess walked back and forth near her big pot before she caught sight of Claire. She turned back to her pot as if nothing happened but then… BAM!

Claire rushed to Witch Princess and helped her get up after she fell from her steps.

"How long have you been standing there?! Did you heard every word of mine?!" asked the witch derogatorily. Claire nodded. "Then tell me. Does Harvest Goddess ever annoy you?"

"She really does!" Claire ranted on how the goddess used to yell at her for not working and now, she got her into this trouble just to save her from the other world.

"I see. I'm glad you think like that. We're gonna get along just fine, Claire. I'll get that Harvest Goddess when she comes back." With that said, Witch Princess went back to her pot while Claire went back to work.

Claire wandered around the valley such as going to the dig site and meeting Carter who talked about an accessory he wore around his neck. Claire, being not-so-polite Claire, said that was lame. Carter was disappointed of course, but then, he remembered something.

"If I'm not mistaken, there's another mine right here. Can you smash this wall?"

"…I'll give it a try." The blonde hit the wall with her hammer and DUSH! Here you go, Pete, Carter and Flora, another mine for you to explore.

"Thanks a bunch, Claire."

"Don't mention it…"

The blonde-haired farmer then walked to the beach. As she entered the area, she was called by Rock.

"Hey Claire! Seeing the sea? Well, just look at the sea. It's so damn beautiful, isn't it? Just like me. In fact, it's getting more beautiful just because I'm here. Am I not amazing? Hahaha. Hmm… Claire, you've gone silent. What's wrong? Are you that mesmerized by my look?" asked Rock.

Claire looked at him amazingly. "Wow! I… I… I'm totally…"

"Yes…?" Rock couldn't wait to hear her response.

"…disgusted… by your cockiness…"

"W-w-what did you just say?!" asked Rock furiously.

"I said, I'm totally disgusted by your cockiness. You've got any hearing problem?"

"H-h-hey! That's enough! You've got any problems with me? Just stop talking and get out of my sight! I'm not in the mood!"

Claire rolled her eyes and walked away. What is wrong with her day today?!

"Yuhuuu! Claire!"

She turned towards Turtle Pond and saw Gustafa waving his hand to her. Now what? She approached him.

"Hey! Wanna chat with me for a while?" asked Gustafa.

"Sure thing."

"Last night, you were…" As Gustafa was about to ask about the incident in Blue Bar, he suddenly recalled Pete coming to his house early in the morning with a dark expression. _'Don't you ever dare to mention anything about last night to Claire if you love your instruments…'_ He tried to ignore Pete's warning. "…really ama…" _'...if you love your instruments…' _"…zing…" _'…instruments…' _Gulp.

"Why are you stuttering? Are you ok?" asked Claire.

Right now, Gustafa was imagining a satanic Pete chopping his instruments with his axe as he laughed maniacally. "Err… I mean… Yesterday, it's amazing to see you drink… I mean, bring yourself to… to… work! Yes. Work…" Remember, Gustafa, not a word about last night.

"Why, thank you," thanked Claire gently.

"Ehem… I do everything I love with pride, including drinking… I mean, playing music. How about you? Do you take pride in what you do?"

"You mean farming? Hahaha… I'm not sure. But I'm very proud to have Pete as my brother. Despite my irritating attitude, he still puts up with me and never leaves me. So, I guess I'm proud to be his sister," said Claire as she smiled broadly.

"Is that so? I see that you haven't come to love farming."

"Who knows that someday I'll love it more than Pete does, right?"

"You're probably right. Ha! Now I feel like singing another song! Let's do things with pride, shall we, Claire?" asked Gustafa as he started to play his guitar.

"Yes, Gustafa. Umm… It's getting late. I should get back. Pete might be hungry. See ya!"

Claire left for home to fix something up. Although their kitchen was not that fascinating, she could still prepare something with whatever she had in her rucksack. Fridge. Claire made it clear in her mind to order a fridge through TV Shopping until it occurred to her that Venus was still missing. So, for now, she must make sure that the siblings could survive with just riceballs, breads, flour and grape juice from Karen's. Luckily, it's spring.

"I'm home!"

"Welcome home, Pete. Here's your Bamboo Rice," said Claire.

"Thanks!" Pete grinned and consumed it. "You know what, Claire? If it's not for your cooking despite this deplorable house, I would've left."

Claire eyed him dangerously. "What're you implying?"

"Err… Well… If you can't cook, err… I'll have to eat at Ruby's… And… it's not always free… So, err… I won't be at home often… Yes… Not often…"

"Hmph!"

"Aww! Are you sulking, little sister? How cute!" teased Pete.

Claire turned around, not facing Pete anymore. "…Hey Pete, do you know that a hungry woman is an angry woman? I'm still hungry, so you better watch it."

"See? Your cooking's just too good that you yourself felt it's not enough. If you're not my sister, I would've married you."

"Stop it, Pete!"

"Are you that angry? Don't get mad, Claire. I was just joking. No offense. Tomorrow, I'm going to the mine. Flora said there're ores in there, so we might get better tools. Carter told me you smashed the second mine. I guess I'll go there too. So, prepare lunch for me, will you?"

"Sure thing." Claire's still facing away. She got up. "I'm going out for a while."

Pete had already lied on his bed. "Yeah, yeah. Be careful. And don't do anything stupid."

Claire wandered in the valley at that chilly and calm night. She didn't know what to do. Perhaps find more sprites? Yeah. That's a good decision. Right now, she NEEDS Venus. Since Venus' in charge with TV Shopping Network, maybe he's at Karen's supermarket. She decided to leave Forget-Me-Not Valley for a while until the surrounding went 'zing!' and a Harvest Sprite appeared.

"Wee! I'm baaack!"

"…Are you sure you should be yelling at the middle of the night?" asked Claire.

"Why not? I'm back! Hehehe. I'm Jackie and my duty is to prevent you from leaving this valley," said Jackie as he placed his little hands on his small waist.

"But, why? I need to fine Venus!"

"All sprites can be found in this valley including Venus. Let me give you a clue, Claire. Save a specific amount of sprites, and you might just rescue Earth."

"Earth?"

"He'll help you to find the labour sprites."

"BUT I WANT VENUS!"

"Err… I guess you have to do some shopping. I think all sprites can be rescued by doing something they're associated with. For instance, I'm in charge for not letting you leave, so if you try to leave, I'll have to come back."

"So, if I want to rescue the labour sprites, I need to do all those works?" Claire's eyes widened.

"Yes!" Jackie exclaimed cheerfully while smiling cheekily. As he opened his eyes, he was totally surprised to see Claire was ready to hammer him. "Waaaah!"

Before Claire could hit Jackie, the Harvest Sprite took off. "You sneaky little Harvest Sprite…" She then thought maybe it's a good idea if she checked Romana's fountain, so she headed there.

As she climbed up the staircase leading to Romana's mansion and reached the fountain, she saw a silver-haired man coming out of the mansion. He stood there for a while at the opposite side of the fountain and gazed at Claire. Their eyes met. The mysterious man then walked towards her and stood in front of her.

"Hehe, hello beautiful. Walking alone at night?" Claire was quiet.

Suddenly, Lumina came out. "Hey! You're that thief that warns his victims ahead of time!"

Claire backed away from the thief. "Hehe. Looks like I don't have much time. Gotta jet." He got down the stairs. "By the way, I'm Phantom Skye. I have a feeling that we'll meet again. It's in the stars."

Lumina went near Claire. "You're not getting away!"

"Hehe, don't let such raw anger spoil your beauty."

Lumina blushed. "What a smooth talker! Phantom Skye…" As Skye made his escape, Lumina chased him but she returned moments later. "Ph-phantom Skye got away!"

Claire was speechless. After Lumina went back into the mansion, Claire investigated the fountain and finally rescued Jum. She then decided to go home, but not before investigating the pond. As she looked closer, she saw something in there. Closer and closer and closer and… SPLASH! She fell right into the pond. Somehow, she felt as if someone was pulling her out.

"…Ugh! You're… heavy…!"

Claire managed to get out of the pond and sat on the ground for a while. "Thanks, Pete…"

"Pete? I'm not Pete…"

The rancher turned around to see a Harvest Sprite. "Did you help me?"

"Yeah. I just helped you right after you saved me. I'm Karaf of the Watering Team. Thanks for saving me. I'll help you however I can!" He vanished.

What a day! Time to get some sleep!


End file.
